Saturday 10 September 2011 11.02 EDT
First published on Saturday 10 September 2011 11.02 EDT

This was supposed to be a brand new experience, an adventure beneath a roof that kept any wet and windy southerlies well and truly excluded from the Otago Stadium. Instead, it nearly became England's rugby tomb, or if the throb of the mob was too raucous for a graveyard, then it was more like the old Ferro Carril Oeste stadium in Buenos Aires. The Pumas and their supporters took control of Dunedin for all but a few minutes and nearly bounced England into oblivion.

The finalists of 2007 survived because their lungs remained in working order in the closing minutes, even when they had to expand one more time to stop one final fling by the Pumas. And because Ben Youngs returned to somewhere near his form of a year ago, when he burst on the international scene. It was not a complete performance – he still dithered at times, with the ball in his hands and his feet locked to the ground – but he will never score a more important try.

And compared with his team-mates he was a bundle of non-stop movement. Given the intentions of the lawmakers to speed up the game it was always going to be a risk for England to persist with their methodical rhythm. But at least it is a familiar beast. It only suffers when the supposed losers of a cruel arm wrestle turn out to be stronger. Argentina were bigger of biceps and more co-ordinated of plan, and England never tried to find an alternative way to scramble out of trouble.

The Pumas' mission to meet the challenge of England without flinching was given a considerable boost by a collective freeze on the other side. And this was not the first time England have … is it too soon to start using the dreadful word? Choked? They froze in Dublin on grand slam day at the end of the Six Nations last March, and they froze on day one of their World Cup. It would appear they have a problem upstairs.

They entered a collective hell. The catalogue of errors began at the first lineout. They lost it on their own throw, made amends by winning the second, only for Mike Tindall to knock on in midfield. Penalties were awarded against just about every forward until the Bryce Lawrence's patience ran out and Dan Cole was sent to the bin for trying to haul down players while lying on the ground.

Manu Tuilagi saw little of the ball. When he did, the revelation of the warm-up games against Wales and Ireland was downed with a thump. Tuilagi has made an impression in the England centre, but raising his knees and clattering forward will not be enough. Where is the cleverness in the England coaching team that will allow his international game to evolve?

What has happened to Ben Foden? The full-back made the cleanest break of the first half – the only other player to suggest that he might wriggle out of trouble was Gonzalo Camacho – but as he neared the moment of the final pass, Delon Armitage kept his distance from the full-back, and momentum was lost as the ball bounced into the turf. While Foden shrinks as a contributor, at least Armitage grows. He looked a little wild at times, and should certainly have headed towards Foden, but at least his confidence is restored and he played with warmth. In a freezing team shouldn't it earn him a starting place?

Nobody was spared the contagion. Not even Jonny Wilkinson, who pulled and pushed his penalties as if, for want of anyone else prepared to do the kicking, he had been volunteered for it for the very first time. He professed afterwards not to know how many he had missed – it was five – but that just shows how scrambled the head of this most painstakingly meticulous of performers was on this day of universal misdirection. Either that or he was not being totally honest. This is Jonny. Wasn't counting, my elbow.

Argentina were just as bad, but at least they could cling to the belief that they were in control of all other areas. They tackled every opponent off his feet, and in the instance of the lively little Camacho upending Foden in the second half, a little too enthusiastically. It was not a spear tackle, but he was not exactly trying to plant a kiss on his victim.

The same cannot be said of Steve Thompson, who defused a little spat with the venerable Mario Ledesma – now 38 and whom he would have come across in French club rugby – by kissing him on his worn forehead. Inverted machismo. It should be encouraged as a specialist skill.

And while on the subject of arresting moments in this most peculiar game, how was it that England's boots kept on coming off? Courtney Lawes and Nick Easter had enough trouble gaining any ground on two full sets of studs, without seeing their footwear in the grip of a strong-armed bootslinger.

It could have been a lot worse for England if they had not managed to bash Felipe Contepomi and Gonzalo Tiesi out of the game. The Pumas captain may have been missing his shots at goal, but he was running hard, and Tiesi was reading his outside-half's every move.

But Contepomi's ribs and Tiesi's knee were hammered by Lawes and James Haskell and Argentina's threat was significantly reduced. They still led with 13 minutes to go, but Youngs was to enjoy his cameo role, and Argentina simply could not find the means to score a try. It is not such a problem for them, for they play rugby on this stage permanently against the odds and are masters at picking themselves up.

Could England have managed defeat? Managing themselves after this ugliest of victories is going to be testing enough. Who will be their inspiration? Having Jonny recalibrated for place kicks is not enough. This World Cup has stung them, but is it into action? I realise there are a lot of question marks in this report, but I fear that England may not have any answers.